Why you don’t have to be afraid that someone will steal your dream

She was one of the last people in line after I got done talking about blogging and callings and the motherhood juggle. I could hear the urgency in her voice.

What happens if someone else steals my dream while I’m waiting? What if they write my idea first before I’ve had a chance to get started?

And I knew just what she meant.

Three years ago I was commuting into work hours each way with daycare drop offs that made me think amputating a limb might have been easier and more appealing. I was stuck in traffic. I was listening to endlessly overplayed songs on our Christian radio station. I was discovering a voice through my baby blog that I didn’t know I had and I was anxiously waiting for something else.

I didn’t know what it was.

I just knew it wasn’t what I was doing every day from 9 to 5.

What happens if I’m stuck in this circle of sameness? What happens is I get too old for something new? What happens if someone else gets there first?

On the days I didn’t drive to work I took the train. And then I walked with hundreds of other morning commuters over the knobly streets of downtown Washington, D.C. I walked and tried to make sense of it all. Two years in a skin that didn’t fit.

Around me friends were signing book deals, launching conferences.

Inside me I had this hunger to cheer for all the women who knew what it felt like to walk in these uncomfortable shoes.

But instead I tried to make it home in time for the last pickup at preschool.

What if this is my life? What if there isn’t anything else? What if my dreams have no where to go?

I remember how the door knob looked. I remember it exactly. A kind of tarnished bronze set into a white door in a D.C. row house. It always stuck and my key was uselessly stubborn to turn. I stood trying to turn that handle into a building where I didn’t want to be at a job I didn’t feel called to and I couldn’t get it to open.

I see my hand on the handle and I can remember exactly the clear thought that dropped into my mind.

There’s enough work in the Kingdom for everyone.

I stood doorknob in hand and let those words just sink in all the way to my toes.

There’s enough work in the Kingdom for everyone.

What she’s doing, what they’re hosting, what your Twitter and Facebook friends are experiencing – that’s their piece of the Kingdom. That’s their plot of land and they’re supposed to be working at it faithfully.

But you? You have your own spot in the Kingdom garden. You have your own soil waiting for seeds and seasons and harvest.

It’s not a competition. It’s a co-op.

And then I was inside and up three flights of stairs at my desk.

I kept commuting for large chunks of my day and writing for large chunks of my night. And as slowly and delightfully as a chia pet that finally starts to sprout just when you’ve given up checking on it, God gave me new tools, different opportunities and my piece of Kingdom garden caught a vision and some rain.

Because of where I’d been, what I’d despaired, how I’d wrestled. I needed them. I didn’t want them. But I’d needed them.

89 Comments

Me too! I graduated from Grad school in 2005 and I have wanted to actually use my degree for some time. Instead I have been raising three kids, working part time in a peripheral discipline, and all the time I’m waiting for the seasons of my life to change. Maybe it’s time to just be present?

Important stuff here, LJ! Truth to marvel in and soak up again and again when fear wants to repurpose our energy. I often think “I’ll miss out” and want to hurry through Now to get to my dreams. But I’ve also heard the voice that Now matters and is necessary for Then. It’s that sliver of truth that changes the whole landscape.

Oh my word, you just shook me. Thank you, thank you for this incredibly timely and incredibly encouraging word. Your writing is so beautiful and paints such vivid images, I just love it.

And also, your Five Minute Fridays are the absolute best examples of what you said here: “Even if you both started with the exact same premise you’d end up glorious worlds apart as distinct as your fingerprints.” What a perfect illustration for those who struggle with this…how hundreds of women can start with the same idea and all those same hundreds have very different perspectives.

Just in case YOU need some encouragement in YOUR little piece of Kingdom garden – you’re there. You got this so right, and I know everyone will tell you so. I’m there myself, waiting for the “where I am now” to be the food for the “where I will be.” I’m stick a great big LIKE button here on this post.

Thank you. Exactly, exactly what I needed to hear today. If God’s truth is Truth, which it is, then we all discover & share. If it’s Gods calling we will equip each of us with the proper timing, grace, & skill. David’s role in the Kingdom was first to slay a giant. The most unlikely option & the oddest timing. But God was glorified because it wasn’t accomplished by a fat resume but a big faith. May we also have faith to wait to be used for His glory!

I do not understand how you can be inside my head so many days in a row! Thank you for your gift of encouragement!

Karen
on August 23, 2012 at 8:58 am

God spoke through you directly to me this morning. Thank you for being a Divine conduit, As my favorite hymn says, ” I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see.” Thanks for the Divine kick in the pants and the inspiration to do what I want and need to do. Blessings to you and yours.

I am moved to tears as I look over my plot in the Kingdom garden. I see the seeds I have been nurturing are beginning to poke their lovely little heads out of the now fertile soil. As far as my eye can see, there are other women tending their own plot, caring for everything from the littlest mustard seed of an idea to strong and well-nourished plantings. These lovely gardeners are calling out to one another in encouragement, with offers of help and advice, and laughter and love.

This is the garden party I came for, and thank you for opening the door so I could see!

On twitter the other day, I saw a conversation between an editor and someone. Basically, the person asked “we have enough authors, don’t we?” and the publisher answered “we have more than enough.”

I kind of sagged on the inside. My books that I’ve been slowly fleshing out as the thoughts and sentences come (because hey… I have 6 kids and no computer, nuthin’s getting done in focussed chunks) sort of looked back at me defeated. I’m sure I took it the wrong way, but the first thought that went through my head was “then why am I even bothering, if that’s the attitude of an editor?” I’m sure I’ll get over it, (especially since it wasn’t even my conversation!) but that felt a little like my dream was stolen.

Lisa-Jo
on August 23, 2012 at 1:51 pm

Jen, listen to me. Satan hates God’s dream. he is the dream-thief. And he will cut them up tiny little conversations, tweets, Facebook updates, or missed opportunities at a time. Don’t let him. Tune out that devil static because you are made by a God who has a grand purpose in mind. A plan that you are supposed to play a part in. You, me, each of our sisters here in the comments. Don’t let the static confuse you – keep running, sister. Run, hard and fast and don’t look to the left or the right until you run right into your good Father’s arms. How beautiful you are when you run all out for Him and His glory and His Kingdom. Can’t you hear us all cheering?

I love this post, Lisa-Jo. This message resounds deeply. God spoke to my heart about there being room for our gifts, if you’d permit me to share here: mhttp://pinkdryerlint.blogspot.com/2012/02/theres-room-for-your-gifts.html

Lisa Milman
on August 23, 2012 at 10:15 am

Lisa-Jo, This is really great. Today’s a tough one for me, feeling I am not supposed to be HERE, but not yet knowing where the THERE is. I DO know one “there” is tonight at the pool to celebrate the 7th anniversary of your motherhood! And the adorable Jackson et al of course.

Echo the heart cries of so many comments before me…thank you. This was what I needed to hear…this morning, and perhaps a few more mornings to come. As lovely as the cheerio breath kisses are, I can’t help but feeling (knowing?) that there is something more waiting for me. Having been so “productive” before kids…it’s hard to realize that I am being productive now as well. And with number 3 on the way…it’s going to be a long haul.
Thank you for your words. Glad that we all get to experience the beauty of your piece of the Kingdom garden.
xx

Wonderful words! Too many times I wonder, should I go back full-time? Should I try something new? Should, what if, why not, where, when…? I am HERE because HE wants me HERE. Once I realized it and it truly sunk it, all was easy!
Carolinasewcarolinaknits

Not sure where, but somewhere after the doorknob you made me cry! How do you do that? This is exactly what’s been in the back of my mind lately. You are the super cheerleader. You may be getting gold pom poms in heaven instead of a crown. Yes, I realize that’s bad theology, but its working for me right now. Thank you, thank you! <3

I’m [nearly] speechless. This is impeccably timed and written just for me; a refreshing boost for the weary (now a grandma, been dreaming the dream since young motherhood.) Keeping the faith… and waiting on the Lord.

What a lovely and encouraging post. I love what you write, but this might be in my top 5 favorites. It truly touched something in me today that I didn’t even know was bothering me into your post called it out. Thank you!

Meghann
on August 23, 2012 at 1:13 pm

Just what I needed to hear. Thank you!

Amanda
on August 23, 2012 at 1:27 pm

That. is. me. With the long commute and the racing to pick up the kids in time and the thankless job I’m not passionate about. I was so encouraged by hearing your career story in the in(RL) video, and you still encourage me now. This is not the end… even though I can’t see beyond this, God is using this time for something. And even if I’m not sure what my dreams are yet, God is preparing me for them. Thank you for being you, Lisa Jo… you are a gift.

I put off starting a frugal/finance blog because I thought the market was too saturated – how would MY voice stand out in that type of crowd? Thank you for the encouragement to keep going and to realized that my perspective, is MY PERSPECTIVE!

Wow! Perfect timing for me, too, as I am starting my new blogging adventure. I feel like I’ve been waiting all my life to DO something. Now I’ve found my DO and I want to tell the world! Maybe that’s just what turning 40 will do to ya. =)

Oh, Lisa-Jo. Yes! I, too, needed to read your words this morning. All I know right now is that I’m called to write, called to wife, called to mother, called to serve. I don’t know how this will unfold, but the Author and Finisher does. I need not run ahead of Him (crazy foolishness to do that!) to see my dreams come to fruition. As you said, He is the dream giver and the dream fulfiller. We each have our own voice, our own “audience,” uniquely given to us by God, and He will use it as He will, and it will be beautiful. A breath of fresh air for me today.

Thank you for sharing this. I, too, have wondered how I was going to find my own voice. Everyone else is “stealing” my ideas, etc, etc. But you are right. We are all gifted with different gifts and we all have unique work to do in the Kingdom.

Hannah
on August 23, 2012 at 6:07 pm

Just this week I had all these questions floating around in my heart. Especially this morning as I got ready for my (hopefully) last year of college. Wondering if I’ll ever get to put feet on those daydreams that have turned into deep passions. And not quite sure what they would all look like in “real life”. Wondering if I’m being practical and realistic and where all these dreams came from anyway. So this post was really helpful and very timely, thanks.

Lisa-Jo—THANK YOU for this post! It spoke so clearly to me because I’ve been feeling alot of those same feelings you wrote about. I now realize that the life God has called me to is simply where I’m at; someday my dreams will be harvested but I must be faithful in the planting and watering of them now. And you’re so right, “It’s not a competition. It’s a co-op.”

Thanks again for your post and for the encouragement you always are to me.

“Even if you both started out with the exact same premise you’d end up glorious worlds apart as distinct as your fingerprints.” You have no idea how badly I needed to read this. Right. Now. Thank you Lisa Jo!

Lynn D
on August 23, 2012 at 10:18 pm

Thank you for reminding me that if there’s still a dream, there’s still time. Really appreciate this today.

Omalay
on August 24, 2012 at 7:54 am

Thank you!! And thank GOD!!!! Soo needed this! Every time I get affirmation that I am at the right place, the enemy seems to have always something ready to contradict it. Have to, have to stick to what our Father says!

I’ve never been to your blog before now, but my wonderful sister-in-law reads it. She posted the link to this last night on my facebook page and said when she read it she thought about me. I was kind of confused when I saw the title and thought to myself, “What? I think she got it a little wrong. I’m not worried about someone stealing my dream.” And then I read it. I had to hold back tears at the desk of the job at which I don’t belong.

I’ve never shared my blog posts on a blog comment before because I think it’s kind of rude…almost like spamming. However, in this case I’m going to make an exception because I need you to know how much you’ve mirrored my sentiments and how much hope you’ve given me.

If you have time to take a look at those, fine. If not, please just know how much you’ve given me a message I didn’t know I needed to hear. While I’ve been quite certain for some time that there’s a different plan for me, I just have to wait for it, I’ve also secretly been discouraged. There are so many bloggers, so many authors, and so many speakers. How could my voice, one small voice among the masses, make any difference or be at all significant? But God has a plan, and it was wrong of me to doubt, even if it was only in the deepest recesses of my heart.

YES! YES! YES! That’s me in a nutshell. The one schleeping kids to school, working a 9-5 job and putting one foot in front of the other, while watching as my blogging friends launch campaigns, and write poetic prose. But … it’s coming…my time. I can feel it in the air. With each word I write and each connection I make, my DNA is getting stamped on projects and written words. Thank you for showing me that I too can live my dream.

Dolores Zamarripa
on August 24, 2012 at 5:43 pm

I am a 57 year old woman married of 36 and looked around the other day and thought I have wasted my life. Many reasons ,many excuses My husband he is making his mark within the ministry we are a part of but that day I really believed I missed it . Not even sure I have or had a dream. your words were an encouragement for me today. Thank you

YOU have written this and are wrecking me with goodness! I admire your faithfulness to write with boldness, to inspire and encourage each one of our hearts to know how much we are loved and how valuable we are. Thank you SO very much for your words.

karina allen
on August 25, 2012 at 4:29 pm

I am in tears! I so needed to hear this! I think that I do tend to think that we are in competition. I have tons of friends that are accomplishing great things for the Kingdom. I am happy for them but at the same time, I want to accomplish my dreams as well. I have so many dreams and I always feel like someone will succeed at my dream before or instead of me. I love how you said that we all have our own soil and we are to tend to them faithfully. God gives us dreams that only we can accomplish through His power and He was intentional in giving us those dreams. Thank you for this rhema word!!!!!

So beautiful and encouraging to me! Thank you for sharing this. I needed to read it.

Blessings and love,
Debbie

Faith
on August 26, 2012 at 1:12 pm

Oh thank you, this really spoke to me. I just sold a business and hung up my handpieces after 19 years of practicing dentistry to be home with our two year old. Joyful but sometimes doubtful.. Thank you for reminding me how God made that possible fter i had given up hope on the dream in my heart to stay home.

Wow is all I can say. I read your post while riding with my family on our way back home from church. My shoulders were sagging just thinking about meal planning, going to the grocery store AND getting ready for school tomorrow. I didn;t even mention the job that I am SOOOOO NOT passionate about but SOOOOOOO need the income. I know that feeling of is this it? I have dreams to write, speak, and use my dance fitness business for God’s Kingdom but I feel like it is not going to happen. It happens on line for people I don;t know but admire from afar. Sometimes it seems easier to just give up although I know that would make me miserable. Thank you so much for this post. It helped me put things in perspective. Even if other women and doing big things, I have my spot in the Kingdom garden. My job is to plant my seeds and let God do the harvesting. Be blessed!

LOVE IT! Thanks for this post! (did you read my mind over the last 20 years as I’ve been home raising 5 kids instead of traveling the world doing ministry, speaking, etc? :) )
Thank you for being you, for flourishing and being faithful and obedient in your part of the kingdom and for encouraging others in theirs!

Preach!! I just cheered when I read this. Smile a mile wide. My favorite truths that we all need to hear:
It’s not a competition it is a co-op.
No one can steal your dream because God has built it into you.
YES. thank you for ringing out this truth, affirmation, and just being the DNA of what He has called you to. Blessings to you my friend!!

such a GREAT post, thank you! I love the idea that we are the DNA of our dreams. The idea that someone can steal my *exact* dream is about as ridiculous a notion that someone could steal me: my thoughts, my soul, my body, my mind, my heart, my faith or my *actual* DNA.

It reminds me so much of a great sermon I heard years ago and have long held onto. The pastor was talking about when Peter thrice questions Jesus about positioning in the Kingdom, and Jesus’ response was essentially, “what’s it to you?” He cautioned us to watch out for that line of thinking and when we find ourselves like Peter wanting to know why someone else has this or that, lives here or there, enjoys these successes or experiences better than ours that we should hear Jesus saying to us (gently of course) “what’s it to you?” It’s always served me, and especially in this cut-throat mommy blogging world where one Mama gets a free trip to Disney and several other millions don’t. I hear that phrase in my head and I decide to mind my own doggone business and focus on what I currently have, in the present.

Anyway, thanks for this thoughtful post. Really great ideas here.

sandi
on August 29, 2012 at 11:38 pm

I don’t think I could ever thank you enough for this post. God spoke to me through you. Clearly. I know this truth, but I needed to hear it in your words. Through grateful tears, I thank you.

This has literally just changed my life. “No one can steal your dream because God has built it into you.” I am terrified of someone getting to my dream before me, or making it null because I didn’t get there fast enough.

Beautiful, what else can I say? Someone once asked me, “did you know you were the dream in God’s heart, before the foundations of the world?” God had a dream, and it was me. He has put dreams in me that I’ve buried, because I don’t feel I measure up — dreams of singing to bring Him glory, or writing to encourage others, or painting the one piece that moves someone to tears. I’ve stopped dreaming. I want to reclaim those dreams. Looking deep within to find what God has already put in me. Thank you Lisa-Jo!

Thank you thank you thaaaaaaaaaank you for this! I’ve spent the past 24 hours wondering why I’m working on a blog in the midst of our middle child going missing for a half-hour yesterday on top of a vomiting 14 year old and a 5 year old who crawls into bed with us at night. I so needed to hear this today. Bless your heart and thank you. <3

Wow. This seriously made me sob. It’s exactly what I NEEDED to read. You’re right. It’s not a competition. It’s a CO-OP! All of us, brothers and sisters in Christ, working together, doing our part in building HIS kingdom, giving Him ALL the glory, yet being distinct just like the fingerprints on our fingers.

And the harvest is plentiful! I need to remember that.

There is so much that God puts upon my heart. And sometimes its so frustrating and discouraging when the words that I write are not well received. I almost wonder at times, in desperate prayer, asking God if anyone even cares, why should I try, why am I even a writer.

It’s so hard to put yourself out there, to share the deepest parts of you and wonder if people are tuning in just out of curiosity to judge and gossip or if they genuinely care to know what is on my heart, to sit with me and learn with me about life, love, and this awesome Creator we all believe in.

I simply have to keep doing what I love doing. Which is write. Write my heart out. And pray God puts fire into those words just like He put fire into Jeremiah’s mouth. Where my writing consumes people like fire consumes wood and leaves them changed.

Wow. What a powerful word, “There is enough work in the kindgom for everyone” & “You are the DNA of the dream.” Love when God speaks to our hearts & we can hear clearly what he is saying. Thank you so much for sharing. As someone who is in ministry & launching a new ministry for women on my blog I’ve had these thoughts floating in my head. Thanks so much for sharing. Happy to have found your blog this afternoon! Excited to read more.

Amanda Brooke
on January 19, 2013 at 11:30 pm

Thank you! I’ve run into this same fear so often in the past couple of months, starting college. I keep wondering….

What if my story (really the one the Creator has written for me) is not exciting enough? What if someone else has already lived it? What if it’s not unique? What if I don’t do a good enough job of living the life God has given me? What if, at 19 years old, I’ve already missed the boat for doing something great for the Kingdom of our Lord? What if I make a choice that makes life boring? What if I become boring and don’t fulfill all of my dreams of adventure and living on the edge as I obey Christ doing edgy things? What if I’m not prepared? What if I’ve already reached my peak? What if I marry someone who is a good man, but I find out to late that he is too much/not enough adventurous-ness for me? What if I’m thinking too hard about all of this stuff and not spending enough time living the NOW that God has given me?!

Mehhh. Its becoming a little exhausting to have all of these questions running through my head all the time. Thank you for sharing the truth you discovered!

God lead me to this post today. I needed to read every word. Thank you so much!

Chloe
on November 9, 2013 at 8:55 am

Thank you. I moved to the US at the beginning of this year, leaving my old life and everything behind back in Australia to pursue a different career. Recently I have been shattered after realizing after all that I have done, all the effort I have put into my work, still not good enough– apparently not their ‘ideal fit.’ Both my friend and I applied for the same position. Both of us started off at the same time as me doing the same job, but she got the position, my dream career.
I am happy for her, but at the same time I am so upset, frustrated and angry at myself. I kept questioning why I am inadequate compared to her? We worked the same hours, same conditions and duties, what was the difference that why didn’t they see it in me?
After reading your post, I realized I cannot keep on comparing myself to her. Because she is taking on her ‘position’ in the Kingdom.
There are many positions in the Kingdom, and the position she has taken isn’t the only one.
Although it was the only one available at the time, it doesn’t mean there won’t be any opportunities for it in the future.
There are many positions in the Kingdom, and many opportunities yet to come.
Regardless of how you may be seen/compared to the other, you are unique and no one can take your dreams away from you.
God will give you opportunities to find your ‘position’ in the Kingdom.